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Netbook Question

post #1 of 34
9/22/09 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
I'm a little embarrassed to even ask this because I'm about to prove how very little I know about computers.. I bought a 3G 32GB iPod Touch a couple of days ago. I'm very happy with the SQ and the music aspect of it in general. However, I'm not a gamer, didn't find a lot of apps that interest me at first glance anyway, wasn't crazy about the web browsing, and really wasn't super crazy about the touch style interface.

So anyhow, I may or may not keep it. I have been thinking about buying one of those netbooks and just using that as my "portable" music player and as a bonus would be nice to surf the net in the living room versus holding the 8lb beast of a laptop I have now.

Well, finally here's my question.. and I'm warning you it's of the stupid/noob variety. If I put iTunes on a netbook, how do I get my CDs put on if there is no optical drive?? Do you have to buy an external drive or is there other ways. Would greatly appreciate some help! I know you guys are experts on this stuff.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 34
9/22/09 at 8:45pm
You can buy an external usb-powered drive, or you can rip to another computer and transfer with flash drives/sd cards as I do.
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post #3 of 34
9/22/09 at 8:49pm
Well, if you have another computer which has iTunes and your music on it already, you can transfer those files to the netbook with a USB key, or use sharepod to transfer the files from your iPod touch to the netbook.

If you really have to rip CDs, then you will either have to buy an external disc drive or rip them on another computer.
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post #4 of 34
9/22/09 at 8:54pm
Unless you've placed the music files in an external memory card, then yes you'll have to purchase an external drive in order for cds to be read.

I was personally set on purchasing the Acer AS1410 for its relatively powerful CPU and this little beauty as its external drive. That is until I saw how sexy the Gateway MD7330u looked. So I compulsively bought that instead. Received it on Saturday and I think that its headphone out is quite impressive. A bit large though to be considered portable.

If you want to wait, Samsung is planning to release an Ion based netbook with a discrete graphics solution.
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post #5 of 34
9/22/09 at 9:44pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, I see. Thanks a bunch!

I'm getting ready to get into netbook research mode then. Are any of the Netbooks known for a little better headphone out SQ than others? In addition to the setup dissembled recommended above, which others would you guys recommend?
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post #6 of 34
9/23/09 at 12:07am
To get a real nice bump in SQ, I would recommend a portable USB/Headphone amp. Built-in HO on laptops are notoriously noisy and generally plain ol' stink. I'm sure there are exceptions but it'll be challenging to find reviews of netbooks that discuss their HO performance.
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post #7 of 34
9/23/09 at 3:08am
Just be aware that a netbook might not have processing power enough to handle a usb dac. I have the new 11,6" Acer Aspire One and when I plug my D10 music is fine for about 30 seconds but then starts cutting in and out in tim ewith hard disc activity. This happens with Windows media player playing wma files and with foobar2000 playing flac files both in direct mode, kernel mode and via asio.
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post #8 of 34
9/23/09 at 7:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
... not have processing power enough to handle a usb dac ... but then starts cutting in and out in tim ewith hard disc activity.
Hello

Are you sure that the problem isn't the small amount of RAM memory?
If the hard disc goes often on and off it's mostly the case that the memory is not big enough.

Best regards
Karlsson
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post #9 of 34
9/23/09 at 8:05am
Usually every netbook has 1GB ram as default, do you think that's not enough and it's necessary to upgrade to 2GB?
I'm concerned because i'd like to purchase a portable DAC/ampli for my samsung NC10.
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post #10 of 34
9/23/09 at 8:10am
For XP I'd recommend 2GB, on my htpc usage does go to 1.2GB (not gaming) I've cut down on services also, but I do have AV and slimserver runing. For Linux 1GB is fine.
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post #11 of 34
9/23/09 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karlsson View Post
Hello

Are you sure that the problem isn't the small amount of RAM memory?
If the hard disc goes often on and off it's mostly the case that the memory is not big enough.

Best regards
Karlsson
It has 2GB of ram and runs XP home with no anti virus program or any other funny things running in the background. The D10 works fine with my proper notebooks running XP PRO and Vista Business. It does however have a slower processor than most netbooks despite being a brand new model, this is clearly noticeable in most operations but not a problem normally with what I use the machine for. The reason for that is to have very long battery life. It get's about 8 hours of typical use on a charge despite it's large screen with high resolution which is extremely convenient as it means I don't need to bring a charger or any other accessories with me (it also has build in 3G modem). There is no stuttering when playing music through the build in headphone out but the sound quality sucks dead bunnies.
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post #12 of 34
9/23/09 at 8:46am
What's CPU load during playback? Post picture of CPU usage history atwindows idle then another playing.
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post #13 of 34
9/23/09 at 1:20pm
I use a 5 year old notebook with 1 gig of RAM running Windows 7. I use it as a music server running Foobar and feeding a USB DAC/amp. I have zero problems with it. I have a hard time believing these new netbooks - stripped down as they are - would have issues. Purely conjecture on my part of course.
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post #14 of 34
9/23/09 at 1:23pm
CPU usage is constantly low <10% and the strange thing is that all sounds fine the first 30-60 seconds and then starts to break up. If I then swith to a different usb port it will be fine again for 30-60 seconds and so on but if I stay with the same usb port it is forever f...cked up. The breakup seems to be in time with the hdd light flashing but again not for the first 30-60 seconds.

It also works fine with my sons faster Lenovo netbook that I used first but it had too short battery life and too small screen and low resoloution for me.
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post #15 of 34
9/23/09 at 1:24pm
What USB chipsetis is it?
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